A high voltage battery pack (e.g., for use in an electric vehicle) is a consumable good, which has useable energy capacity that becomes depleted over time in response to environmental conditions and the high voltage State of Charge (SOC) of the battery. SOC represents the amount of useable energy in a high voltage battery pack, and is typically represented by a range of 0% to 100%. The degradation rate of a high voltage battery pack's capacity is increased while the battery pack remains at high SOC values and high temperatures for extended periods of time.
A conventional plug-in electric vehicle (e.g., a fully electric or hybrid electric vehicle) uses an on-board or off-board battery charger to charge the vehicle's battery pack from a utility alternating current (AC) outlet. When the vehicle is not being driven (e.g., when the vehicle is parked at home for the night), the vehicle's operator may connect the vehicle to an outlet via the battery charger. The battery charger will consume energy from the utility in order to recharge the battery pack. The recharging process terminates once the battery pack has received sufficient energy from the battery charger to raise the SOC of the battery pack to a maximum level.
Using conventional recharging methods, currents supplied to the battery pack may be significant (e.g., 10 to 30 amps or higher). These currents may cause the temperature of the battery pack to become very high. In addition, the vehicle may be exposed to ambient conditions that may lead to the battery pack having a high standing temperature. The longer that the battery pack remains at high temperatures and high SOC values, the more that the useable life of the battery pack is decreased. Once the energy storage capacity of the battery pack becomes too low, the battery pack must be replaced. Replacement battery packs are relatively expensive components, and accordingly their occasional replacement may significantly increase the operational expense of owning and operating an electric vehicle.
In order to decrease the operational expenses associated with owning and operating electric vehicles (and thus to increase the incentives for consumers to purchase and use plug-in electric vehicles), it is desirable to provide methods and apparatus for recharging battery packs that may result in longer useable lives of the battery packs, when compared with the useable lives of battery packs that are recharged using conventional recharging methods and apparatus. Other desirable features and characteristics will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.